


Stay With Me Always

by Katalyna_Rose



Series: Vhenan AU [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Cullen Reunites with Warden Amell, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:12:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8700607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katalyna_Rose/pseuds/Katalyna_Rose
Summary: More than ten years ago, a very young and naive Templar Cullen Rutherford was parted from Solona Amell when she was recruited into the Grey Wardens. Even after so long, he still remembers the young mage he had foolishly entangled himself with. His feelings for her remain the same, but now he has the freedom to admit them, even if it's just to himself.Unexpectedly, the Warden Commander of Amaranthine, the Hero of Ferelden Solona Amell visits Skyhold on a diplomatic mission. One of the first things she does is visit the man she once loved, then left, then lost. How does he feel about her, after all these years?





	

“Cullen?” The voice was tentative, unsure, feminine, and familiar. Cullen looked up from his desk, and suddenly time warped around him.

She was so much like he remembered her. Her chocolate brown hair curled gently around her shoulders, her deep brown eyes holding depths he could drown in. She was slender but tall for a woman, only a few inches shorter than Cullen himself, willowy. Her soft smile was shy, and he remembered it well.

Then he began to notice the differences. There were lines of stress around her eyes and mouth, though he knew she was young still. She wore battered Warden armor, metal protecting her chest though the rest of it was light leather and cloth, as mage armor often was. She carried no staff in deference to where she was, but he knew well that she didn’t need one. He remembered.

“Solona,” he breathed as the woman who had once been his charge entered his office and shut the door behind her. She ducked her head, another gesture he remembered, and stopped halfway between the door and his desk.

“It’s good to see you,” she said sincerely. Her shy smile wavered a little as he remained silent and unmoving. He stood so fast he knocked his chair over, and her eyes widened in surprise. He approached her and enfolded her in his arms. She squeaked, but didn’t pull away. After a moment’s hesitation she even returned his embrace. He leaned his cheek against her hair and breathed deep. She didn’t smell quite the same anymore. Once, she’d smelled of feminine soaps and the tingle of magic. Now the scents were overlaid with healing herbs and a faint trace of wood smoke. It was wonderful all the same.

“Well, I’m glad you feel the same,” she quipped lightly as he finally convinced himself to release her. Her cheeks were flushed and her smile was wider though no less shy. He grinned at her.

“I have missed you, Solona,” he told her softly. Her eyes widened again and she lowered her head, letting her hair obscure her face.

“I would have thought that, after the last time we saw each other, you’d want nothing to do with me,” she whispered, so softly he had to strain to hear it. He’d almost forgotten that about her; she was confident with her magic and her fellow mages. She’d cursed at Jowan in the most colorful language for using blood magic and nearly getting her killed for him. When she’d undergone her Harrowing, he’d watched her march without fear to the lyrium well and drink without hesitation. But when it came to her feelings, to their not-quite-relationship, she was shy and quiet and reserved and uncertain.

With gentle fingers he tilted her chin up so she would look at him. “I’ve had a lot of time to regret the way I spoke to you last,” he told her. Her blush deepened. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. He smiled gently, memorizing her features all over again. He hadn’t allowed himself to love her, before. But he had cared for her deeply. He’d been beyond dismayed when she was forced to join the Wardens. As she’d packed what few belongings she possessed he’d managed to steal a moment with her. Hidden behind the open door of her wardrobe in her empty rooms, he’d pressed her against the wall and kissed her fiercely. He couldn’t blame her for Jowan’s actions; she’d thought she was helping a friend, even though she knew that what she’d done had been against every law there was for a mage. Still, he hadn’t blamed her. He’d tried to make that clear as he stole one final kiss before she was forced away, seemingly forever.

When she’d come back to the Circle as a Warden, trying to save the mages and enlist their help against the Blight, he’d thought she was another Desire demon come to tempt him. He’d seen her tears through the magical barrier between them as he commanded the vision to stop, and then he’d thought she was Despair. And when she finally made it clear that she was real, that she was there, he’d been furious though he couldn’t say why. He’d commanded her to kill all the mages, to fulfil Annulment. She had told him she would not, that she would save anyone she could. He’d thought her a fool. He’d listened to the fighting in the Harrowing Chamber above him, and he’d wondered if she’d die. When finally she emerged, the First Enchanter leaning heavily on her shoulder and a phial of lyrium at her lips, he’d been more than a little surprised. She’d used her power to destroy the weakened barrier and free him.

“Cullen, you’re safe now,” she’d said as she supported the First Enchanter.

“None of us are safe as long as these mages live!” he’d cried. She’d flinched back from him as if he’d struck her. He might as well have. He regretted those words more than almost anything else in a long list of regrets.

His eyes drifted to her lips, and he wanted so badly to kiss her. But first he needed to know why she was there.

“What has brought you to Skyhold and the Inquisition?” he asked her. His voice was still soft, intimate, but he straightened his posture, now Commander instead of simply a man. She blinked and straightened as well, now a Warden and a hero, not just a woman.

“I’ve come with information for the Inquisition about the Wardens at Adamant,” she said. “I also have news from Weisshaupt. The First Warden wanted to formally apologize for Warden-Commander Clarelle. She acted without authorization. I gave the letter to Leliana and Miss Montilyet.”

“So you came as a glorified messenger?” he asked, outraged. They could have sent a raven with that news, or a runner. They were demeaning the Hero of Ferelden with a letter?

She laughed softly. “I volunteered, Cullen,” she said. “I’ve also come to ally with the Inquisition. There are pockets of darkspawn cropping up all over Ferelden, especially on the Storm Coast. I’ve brought a few of my colleagues with me to take care of them. The First Warden thinks we should be more active in the fight against Corypheus, but his advisors tell him to be cautious. So instead of allowing me to formally join, I come as a representative to take care of darkspawn that might distract the Inquisition from its purpose. Someone would have been sent if I hadn’t offered.” She ducked her head again, but her eyes stayed fixed on his. “I wanted to come see you,” she admitted softly. He touched her cheek and the faint scar there. She hadn’t had it in the Circle. She leaned into his touch, that shy smile back in place, her duty as a Warden done.

“It’s been ten years,” he said softly, thinking of his many lonely nights and days filled with little but work. Her expression fell.

“It has,” she agreed. She took a step back and looked away. “Surely you have… other interests,” she said. She took another step back. “I hope… that you are well.” She turned to leave, but he caught her arm.

“I have no other interests,” he told her directly. Her eyes widened and searched his face. Her small, delicate features lit with hope, and his chest hurt at the sight. “But perhaps you do?” She shook her head mutely, then swallowed visibly.

“No,” she whispered. “No interests of that variety.” He smiled at her and stepped close. He wrapped his arms around her waist. As if she were moving through a dream, her arms came up around his neck and she clung to him. Slowly, his head dipped to hers. She tilted her chin up, those wide brown eyes flickering between his eyes and his lips. When finally their mouths met she made a small sound, almost a sob. She gripped the back of his neck and kissed him, their mouths moving in perfect tandem. He lost himself in the warmth of her lips and her arms around him. He pressed tight against her body and lost himself in the tiny sounds she made, the little gasps and moans as he flicked her tongue with his own. She tasted of wine and honey. She bit his lower lip and he groaned softly with pleasure.

They remained still, their mouths and tongues the only parts of them that moved. They were acting as if they were stealing forbidden kisses in shadowed corners of the Circle tower again, as they had so long ago. Suddenly, Cullen couldn’t stand that; everything was different now. He pressed her back, moving with her until he had her pressed against the wall beside the door. And then he moved against her. He pressed his hips sharply into hers and she gasped, breaking their kiss. He moved his mouth down her cheek and jaw to nibble at the pale, soft skin of her neck. She tilted her head to the side, giving him access, and tried unsuccessfully to muffle her little sobbing moans. She panted as he ground their hips together, clutching at him as though she could no longer stand under her own power.

“Cullen…” She whispered his name like a prayer, and he moaned, sucking her skin into his mouth and biting gently. “Ah! Cullen!” she cried, no longer half as quiet as she had been. He moaned again, louder, marking her neck with his teeth, and her nails bit into him. His lips met hers again, and she trembled in his arms as he rocked against her.

Suddenly, the door beside them opened. “Commander! I have Sister Leliana’s report for…” The scout trailed off as he looked right beside him and found Cullen and Solona panting as they held each other, pressed against the wall. She hid her face in his shoulder.

“Put it on the desk and leave,” Cullen said harshly, glaring at the man. He coughed and scurried to do just that. Cullen glared at him until the door closed with a snap behind him. Solona sighed against him.

“You have work to do,” she said softly, and attempted to disentangle herself from him. He held her fast.

“It can wait,” he told her softly. “This is more important.”

She smiled up at him, but shook her head. “There’s time,” she whispered. He nodded.

“There is,” he agreed. “But I want you now,” he told her intently and watched her eyes widen again.

“Cullen…” she breathed, and he took her mouth again. She started trembling again quickly.

“Cullen, take me to bed,” she demanded a few moments later, her shyness no match for her mounting desire. He grinned at her. This was something they’d never done together. There hadn’t been enough privacy. They’d nearly been caught kissing on several occasions, as it was. But he wanted it. She wanted it. It was time.

He guided her up the ladder to his sleeping quarters just above his office. He followed after locking all his doors. She was already removing her armor by the time he joined her, but her hands were shaking and making the task difficult. He took over for her, and she watched his face as he carefully removed her breastplate.

“Where did you get this scar?” she asked, touching the mark just above his lip. He grinned as he pulled the long tunic of thick cloth studded with metal rings off of her.

“Have you heard about the Champion of Kirkwall?” he asked her as he removed his sword belt and cloak. Where he had carefully laid her armor across a chair, he simply dumped his own on the floor. She nodded as she bent to retrieve his discarded clothing. She laid it across the top of his dresser. “Hawke punched me,” he told her, smiling to see the odd domesticity of her taking care of his clothes as they undressed in preparation to make love. When he was finally down to his smallclothes, he went to her and gently removed her light shirt and leather leggings.

“She punched you?” Solona asked, her brows raised in surprise. “Whatever for?” He chuckled.

“It was a number of things, actually,” he told her. He tried to keep his voice steady as they both trembled with anticipation. He kissed her neck and she shivered, her hands tracing the planes of muscle on his chest. “The first time I met her, I’d followed a Templar recruit out to the Wounded Coast. The recruits were disappearing mysteriously, and I wanted to know what was happening. She came upon me as I was attempting to frighten the truth out of him. It wasn’t a very good first impression.” He chuckled to remember how she’d scolded him. “There were a few other incidents, until finally I said something vaguely threatening about the fact that she was an apostate living free in Kirkwall, and she decked me then and there. We were standing in the Gallows courtyard, arguing about Meredith’s policies, and she took a swing at me.” Solona laughed, her arms snaking around his neck again as she pressed herself against him.

“It sounds like the Champion and I would get along well,” she said, smirking. He laughed.

“I hope you don’t intend to surprise me with a sudden left hook,” he said softly, nibbling on her ear lobe. She gasped.

“Not unless you give me a _very_ good reason to,” she said in a breathy moan. He laughed softly, nuzzling her neck. Her arms left him, and she reached around behind herself to remove her breast band. Once she’d tossed it across the room, he guided her back towards his bed. She crawled backwards onto it, her wide eyes on his face and a deep blush coloring her cheeks. He smiled as he crawled atop her, and she welcomed him into the cradle of her thighs. His hands gently caressed the slight swells of her breasts, and her head fell back. She hissed in a breath when he swiped a thumb across her nipple. When he followed it with his mouth, she cried out and trembled beneath his touch.

“I’d heard that you opposed Meredith,” she said shakily as he swirled his tongue around the hard bud of her nipple.

“I regret that it wasn’t until she turned on Hawke and tried to kill her that I realized what she was and fought against her,” he told her. Her hand gripped the back of his neck as he moved to her other breast and grazed it with his teeth. Goose bumps rose on her flesh as she shivered.

“What’s important is that you did the right thing, in the end,” she told him, her voice a breathy purr. “You’re a good man, Cullen.” He paused at that, and looked up at her.

“There was a long period of time when I was not,” he told her softly, seriously. “While I was in Kirkwall, I thought of mages as less than people.” He kept his eyes on hers even though it hurt him to do so as she watched him and listened. “I was afraid, angry, still traumatized by what had happened during the Blight. I thought that my feelings for you were wrong, unnatural. I thought that my desire for you was a sin. I prayed for the memories of your touch to be erased from my mind.” He clenched his jaw in shame, but she said nothing. Her expression did not reveal her thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he told her sincerely. Gently, she cupped his face with both her hands. She guided him up and kissed him softly.

“But you don’t feel that way now?” she asked against his mouth.

“Maker, no!” he cried, pulling back to look into her eyes. “No! You are… You have always been… Oh, Solona, I love you!” Her eyes shot wider than he had ever seen them and she drew her head back sharply.

“You… love me?” she asked in a small voice.

“Yes,” he told her sincerely. She searched his face, and he waited as patiently as he could. Then she kissed him forcefully and flipped him over so she could straddle his hips. His hands caressed her waist, reveling in the soft skin that covered her hard muscles. She pulled his smallclothes off of him to reveal his erection, and then pulled off the last layer of her own clothing. He flipped their positions again, and she let him, laughing. He grinned at the sound and slid a finger inside her. She gasped and arched beneath him, pressing her head back into his pillows. She was wet for him already, nearly dripping, but he wanted to be sure she was ready. He circled her clit with his thumb, and she lifted her hips unconsciously, her fingers digging into his shoulders. He watched her face as he pleasured her softly. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, staring in the general direction of the ceiling, her soft mouth opened around her panting breaths. She was beautiful.

He gripped her breast with his free hand, the swell of it just barely filling his palm, and squeezed gently. She moaned and thrust her hips up into his hand, her body begging for more. He slipped another finger inside her. She cried out and clenched around the intrusion, her nails raking at his skin.

“Cullen! Please!” she cried, and the sound of it made him shudder. He withdrew his hand, reveling in the way her sheath clenched as he did, as if it could keep him there. He settled himself in the cradle of her thighs and entered her slowly, the heat and slickness of her testing his control. He watched her face, made sure she was in no discomfort. Her body accepted him easily, as if it was made to. Finally, he was sheathed within her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he began to move within her. He kissed her as he thrust slowly, and she accepted it with enthusiasm. The heat of her core and his cock slipping in and out of her with the most delicious friction brought him more pleasure than he had ever known. Neither of them were blushing virgins, but this was better than anything he’d ever felt before. From the way she thrashed beneath him, whispering his name over and over like a prayer, he thought she felt the same way.

She thrust her hips up to meet his on the down stroke and he groaned loudly. He could feel her trembling, the peak of her pleasure not far off. He increased their pace slightly, wanting to feel her orgasm around him. Her eyes were closed, her mouth open, her expression one of ecstasy. And he felt her break, waves of pleasure swamping her. She cried out with it, something between a scream and a moan, and it was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. He stilled within her, feeling her body clench frantically around him, gritting his teeth as he tried to delay his own finish. Her nails left deep gouges in his shoulders and back, but he didn’t mind in the slightest. When he felt her finally come down a bit, he let her rest for a few moments until she had control of her breaths again, then moved within her. She gasped, oversensitive, but thrust her hips with his.

“Cullen,” she breathed, her breath hot and damp in his ear. “Come for me.” He shuddered as she nipped his ear lobe, her quiet command forcing his body to obey. With a raw groan, he pumped his seed into her. The sensation brought her a second orgasm, and she shuddered with him as he released.

Then they simply lay together, and Cullen wasn’t sure where his body ended and hers began. It didn’t seem important as they struggled to catch their breath. She held him gently, like a delicate treasure, and he kissed her sweaty cheek and neck.

“Oh, Cullen, I love you, too,” she told him once their breathing had slowed. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. She was smiling, sincerity in her face, and he kissed her, his eyes prickling with unshed tears.

“Stay with me, Solona?” he asked her.

“Always,” she replied.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even have an Amell Warden, usually. I mean, I've played that Origin, of course, but I didn't have an OC for this until this drabble idea came to me. And I just love this idea! -happy sigh-
> 
> She got rather well-developed for a character I didn't even have until five minutes before I started writing this... Maybe I'll do more with her? Eh, it's not likely. I'm too in love with my Kahlia Mahariel!
> 
> Hawke is the reason for Cullen's lip scar. Anyone who disagrees can fight me! Hawke definitely punched Cullen in the face in the middle of the Gallows because he was being a dick (or because her sister got sent to the Circle or something. I've seen other people with other thoughts on why Hawke punched him).


End file.
